Daily Inspiration

Happy New Year! Each week in January I’ll be addressing one of four subjects from my Inner Diet program. Each represents the building blocks of a healthier lifestyle, thinner body and happier, more active future. Week 4: Putting the previous week’s advice together and taking action now and for the rest of your life...

The Gravitational Pull of Habit

I want to talk to you about the importance of taking action as it pertains to what I’m going to call your inner space. In order for you to create the changes necessary for successful weight loss, you must first create changes in your inner space. The thinking always precedes the doing and, if it’s lifestyle change you seek, the bottom line is this: You will never become who you want to be by remaining who you are.

Let me start by sharing a humorous email from a woman who was struggling with her weight, which got me thinking about all of this space stuff in the first place:

Okay, this losing weight deal is hard. I'm drinking my water, following my diet, exercising daily. So, to give myself a break, I thought well....maybe if I lived on another planet I would be at my ideal weight and not have to do all this work anymore. After much research and having to admit that the gravitational pull of earth has not increased in the past couple of years I guess I'm "stuck" here. I weigh much too much on Jupiter and a little less on Saturn and waaaayy over the top visiting the Sun, plus they haven't created a 100% sun blocker. So, now, all I ask for is the proverbial "pat on the back" and the simple words: "Hang in there, the best is yet to come!"

Her point about her weight being tied to the different gravitational pulls of the planets made me laugh, but it also made me think about weight loss in another way. As I was thinking about the concept of gravitational pull, I had a very interesting thought about another powerful gravitational force in our everyday lives. And that force is the gravitational force of habit.

Gravity is also defined as The state or condition of being grave, being in danger or being threatened.

As I read that definition, I thought about how this also relates to you and weight control. Remaining overweight takes a tremendous physical toll on your body, but it also creates an enormous emotional drain on your spirit. And this negative one/two punch combination can be lethal. The word gravity fits well here, as being overweight is defined as a grave or serious condition.

It occurred to me that the gravitational pull of the earth is very much like the gravitational pull of habit. As I thought about that email message I received from that woman, it dawned on me that this is one of the major obstacles to successful weight control. That is, most people fail to break free from the strong and relentless gravitational pull of habit.

Balance, according to mental health experts, provides the rhythm of life, and balance is critical to your health, wellness and happiness. You need balance if you want to find peace, harmony and contentment in your life. Regarding nutrition, exercise, work and play, balance is definitely what is needed to find your center and keep you on a steady course.

The problem is that the force of habit interferes with your desire for balance. The force of habit is what draws people back to old, negative, self-defeating behaviors. The truth is that most don’t break free from their old habits and this is why so many people fail at weight loss. Whether it’s the habits that created your overweight body in the past or the habits that keep you from creating healthy change in the present, one truth remains: Habit is the enemy of change.

To stay with the space theme here that I’ve started, the strong gravitational force of habit leaves you, just like a satellite, stuck in a continuous and unchanging orbit circling the problem. Habit keeps you locked in an orbit around negative thinking and unhealthy eating. And many become lost in that orbit – trapped by the strong and relentless gravitational pull of habit.

If you want to succeed at weight loss, you have to operate a bit like mission control does at NASA. You have to monitor your progress continuously, keep your hands on the controls constantly and relentlessly put forth your best effort to help yourself break free from the strong gravitational pull of habit and launch your new life successfully.